The Rwandan government temporarily suspended its cooperation
with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
(ICTR) last Friday after the court that day ordered
the release of genocide suspect Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza.
The cabinet strongly condemned the move, saying Barayagwiza's
release - on the grounds that procedural flaws violated
his human rights - could be used by other detainees.
Rwandan Chief Prosecutor Gerald Gahima described the
decision as a "deplorable precedent".

Rwandan officials have said they will not meet the new
chief prosecutor of the ICTR, Carla del Ponte, who
announced her intention to visit the country this month.
Associated Press quoted Justice Minister Jean de Dieu
Mucyo as saying the country was not ready to welcome
her because of the ICTR's decision to free Barayagwiza.
The released suspect has asked that he be allowed to
go to a host country of his choice, the Hirondelle
news agency reported.

RWANDA: "Laying foundations for democratic society"
- UN

The UN Human Rights Commission's special representative
for Rwanda has said the country is stepping out of
the shadow of genocide and laying the foundations for
a democratic society. In a report, he noted positive
developments over the past year such as successful
local elections, the establishment of a human rights
commission and a unity and reconciliation commission,
and the proposed use of traditional justice systems
(gacaca) to speed up genocide trials. In spite of the
progress there was not yet a culture of human rights
in Rwanda, the report said.

RWANDA: Defence cuts in new budget

Finance Minister Donald Kaberuka on Wednesday presented
his draft budget to parliament for the year 2000, Rwandan
radio reported. The budget - totalling 169 billion
Rwandan francs - provides for a 62 million franc reduction
in defence spending. The minister said the number of
ministries will have to be reduced and foreign embassies
will be cut by half. The National Assembly proposed
that security be maintained by "voluntary contributions"
from Rwandans according to their means, Rwandan media
sources reported.

RWANDA: Government requests emergency food aid

Prime Minister Pierre-Celestin Rwigema on Monday said
the country faced a 158,000 mt cereal deficit and required
US $10 million to provide emergency assistance to some
78,912 families for at least six months, Radio Rwanda
reported. Rwigema, addressing diplomats in Kigali,
said families in five prefectures (Umutara, Gitarama,
Kigali-Rural, Kibungo and Butare) were "devastated"
by food shortages. Meanwhile, the results of an inter-agency
rapid assessment mission late last week to look into
the current drought and vulnerability situation are
still awaited, a WFP spokesperson told IRIN.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: UN teams go to the field

UN technical survey teams left Kinshasa for the field
on Thursday, after agreement on their deployment was
reached Wednesday during a meeting between UN Special
Envoy for the DRC Moustapha Niasse and DRC President
Laurent-Desire Kabila. The UN Observer Mission in the
Congo (MONUC) told IRIN the teams had left for the
rebel-held areas of Gbadolite, Goma, Kisangani and
Bukavu, and the government-held area of Kananga. Regional
analysts attributed the apparent breakthrough to Niasse's
visit bringing the necessary "political presence"
to the DRC.

DRC: "Wobbly" commitment to peace accord

The UN Security Council last Friday extended the mandate
of 90 UN Military Liaison Officers (MLOs) to help implement
the Lusaka ceasefire accord but did not authorise the
proposed deployment of 500 military observers. There
was "no mention of moving to the second phase,
at least not now ... As to the parties to the peace
agreement, we're trying to hold everyone's feet to
the fire as far as their commitment to the agreement,
but that's quite wobbly," UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan's spokesman, Fred Eckhard, told journalists.

DRC: OAU to deploy military observers

Meanwhile, the OAU was expected to deploy some 30 military
observers to the DRC from this weekend to begin ceasefire
verification, the chairman of the Joint Military Commission
(JMC), General Rachid Lallali, told IRIN on Monday.
"By the weekend, we will have the means to be
present in the field - to investigate, to check and
to monitor these ceasefire violations," Lallali
said.

DRC: Four JMC working groups to address crucial issues

The JMC, which is charged with implementing the Lusaka
ceasefire agreement, has established four working groups
to present their findings to the next full JMC meeting
in Harare from 30 November. The different groups are
to consider: the determination of humanitarian corridors
and the exchange of prisoners of war; mechanisms for
the

disarmament of armed groups and civilian Congolese in
illegal possession of arms; mechanisms for the disengagement
of rival forces; and for the orderly withdrawal of
foreign forces, according to a press release from the
JMC.

DRC: Fighting reported in Equateur province

Both sides in the DRC conflict this week claimed there
was fighting underway at Bekili, 80 km from Bokungu
in Equateur province. The second vice-president of
the rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie
(RCD), Moise Nyarugabo, told the BBC Kinyarwanda service
that fighting had been underway for five days after
DRC government troops reportedly launched an attack.
He said about 100 civilians had lost their lives. Meanwhile,
DRC state radio said allied forces of the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) "repulsed
an attack by rebels and their allies" on Bekili
last week and claimed two rebels were killed.

DRC: Rebel faction reportedly seeks Uganda's backing

Rebels of the Goma-based RCD have reportedly sought
Uganda's backing amid the "emerging leadership
crisis in the faction and dwindling support from Rwanda",
the weekly 'EastAfrican' newspaper reported on Monday.
It quoted sources as saying the faction's second vice
president Moise Nyarugabo and chief of intelligence
Bizima Karaha's surprise visit to Kampala last weekend
followed days of "intense infighting" among
members of the RCD general assembly.

DRC: Rebels accuse Kabila of recruiting "negative
elements"

RCD president Emile Ilunga accused Kabila of recruiting
"negative elements" into his army, despite
the provision in the Lusaka peace accord that they
be disarmed. In an interview with Gabonese radio, Ilunga
stressed peace and security in the Great Lakes region
was impossible as long as those forces remained in
the country. Expressing support for an inter-Congolese
dialogue, he also called for an international conference
on the Great Lakes region. Meanwhile, RCD second vice-president
Moise Nyarugabo denied government allegations that
Angolan UNITA rebels had infiltrated and were fighting
alongside the RCD. "Where would they pass? The
border between Congo and Angola is guarded by Kabila's
soldiers," he told rebel-controlled Goma radio.

DRC: Gemena "fairly stable"

A humanitarian mission to Gemena in Equateur province
on 4 November found the overall situation in the MLC-held
town to be fairly stable and said reports of widespread
destruction due to air raids by Kinshasa's allies appeared
to have been "gravely exaggerated". An OCHA
mission report received by IRIN on Wednesday said the
town's market was very busy and goods were abundant.
While northern Equateur was relatively stable, there
was a need to assess eastern parts of the province,
where it was feared the humanitarian situation could
be critical on account of conflict and sustained population
displacement, the report added.

TANZANIA-BURUNDI: Refugee influx increases

More than 400 people a day are now arriving in western
Tanzania after fleeing violence and forced displacement
in southern Burundi, UNHCR said on Tuesday. Between
1-8 November, UNHCR registered 4,150 new arrivals in
Kigoma, Kasulu, Kibondo and Ngara, UNHCR spokesman
Kris Janowski said. More

than 7,000 Burundi refugees crossed to the same areas
during October, he said. Refugees are arriving from
the provinces of Makamba, Rutana, Gitega and Kirundo
and report continuing fighting between rebels and government
forces, as well as forced regoupment in inadequate,
makeshift sites by the government.

BURUNDI: Children separated from their families

An estimated 1,500 children in Burundi remain separated
from their families, SCF has said. In an emergency
bulletin, SCF said the situation was due to the country's
war, population displacements, the breakdown of the
family, poverty and other factors. Meanwhile, some
110,000 children in Burundi have lost one or both parents
to AIDS, representing the sixth-highest proportion
of AIDS orphans in the world, the report stated. The
reluctance of donors to fund anything except emergency
projects in the country "undermines the long-term
approach to which SCF is committed", it added.

BURUNDI: 13 killed in ambush

Thirteen people, including three soldiers, were killed
and 13 others wounded on Monday in an ambush by Hutu
rebels in Musenyi in northern Burundi, news organisations
reported. According to the BBC Kirundi service, the
rebels laid a tree across the main road north of Bujumbura,
between Bugarama and Kayanza, in order to ambush vehicles
using the highway.

BURUNDI: More rebel groups opposed to South African
mediation

The rebel umbrella organisation ULINA has added its
voice to rebel opposition to South African mediation
of the Burundi peace process. The Union pour la liberation
nationale (ULINA) claimed South Africa was "biased"
and alleged there was military cooperation between
Burundi and South Africa. Last week, the CNDD faction
of Leonard Nyangoma - which does not come under the
ULINA umbrella - also expressed its opposition to South
Africa's mediation.

UGANDA-RWANDA: New agreement to improve ties

Uganda and Rwanda have resolved to promote closer cooperation
between the two countries. A meeting between Ugandan
President Yoweri Museveni and his Rwandan counterpart
Pasteur Bizimungu in Kabale, southwestern Uganda, ended
on Monday with the two leaders agreeing on the way
forward to resolve outstanding problems between the
two countries and to strengthen their alliance.

RWANDA-UGANDA: Pledge to help rebels form united front

Rwanda and Uganda further agreed to help RCD rebels
form a united front against Kabila, Bizimungu told
journalists on arrival from Uganda. According to Rwandan
radio, he said the two countries were going to adopt
a "common vision" on the DRC problem and
set up strategies to help those opposed to Kabila.
In this regard, the two countries had decided to help
the RCD come up with a single representative within
the JMC.

UGANDA: Troops sent to "flush out" rebels
in west

More than 6,000 Ugandan soldiers, specially trained
in mountain warfare, have been deployed to the Ruwenzori
mountains to "flush out" rebels of the Allied
Democratic Forces (ADF). The 'New Vision' newspaper
quoted army Chief of Staff Brigadier James Kazini as
saying on Monday that the operation, which started
on Saturday, would deal the "final blow to the

rebels". Kazini reportedly said the operation was
the final stage in the war against the ADF rebels,
which included destroying rebel camps in the mountains
and sealing off their bases in neighbouring DRC.

SUDAN: UN to undertake $10 million Nuba Mountains programme

Following a humanitarian mission to the Nuba Mountains,
undertaken with the cooperation of the Sudanese government
and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M),
the UN humanitarian programme for the Sudan will next
year include, for the first time, multi-sectoral assistance
for populations in the Nuba Mountains, the UN stated
on Wednesday. The Nuba Mountain programme, with an
estimated budget of US $10 million, will be included
in the Inter-Agency Consolidated Appeal for the Sudan
for the year 2000 "to address essential humanitarian
needs as well as medium-term recovery and rehabilitation
needs."

KENYA: Scepticism over Moi call for displaced to return
to Rift Valley

Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi this week called on
thousands of displaced people in the country's Rift
Valley province to return to their homes and continue
with their normal lives. Following all-out clashes
in the province in 1992 between the Kikuyu and Kalenjin
groups, and a smaller resurgence in 1998, thousands
of displaced people are still living in fear of returning
to their original homes. Moi reassured the displaced
that "maximum security" would be ensured
so that the problems did not recur. However, Kenya
Human Rights Commission's Management Coordinator, James
Nduko, expressed doubt over the "practicability"
of Moi's directive, since no logistical arrangements
had been made to help the families.

DJIBOUTI: Mounting tension with Eritrea

Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh, elected in May,
on Thursday warned of deteriorating relations between
his country and Eritrea. In a BBC interview, he accused
Eritrea of supporting Djiboutian rebels and said the
two countries were "almost in a state of war".
Djibouti, whose Red Sea port is a vital lifeline for
landlocked Ethiopia, risks becoming embroiled in the
18-month Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict, regional analysts
said. However, an Eritrean spokesman told IRIN on Friday
the new allegations were "ridiculous". Djibouti
severed diplomatic relations with Eritrea nearly a
year ago, after Asmara accused it during an OAU summit
of taking part in the war on Ethiopia's side. The two
countries have since then been at loggerheads, despite
Djibouti's professed neutrality. REPUBLIC OF CONGO:
Enhanced stability underpins $17 million UN appeal

The UN this week released details of a $17 million Consolidated
Inter-Agency Appeal (CAP) for the year 2000 based on
the likelihood of further stabilisation in the country
and greater humanitarian access to the rural interior.
The UN's intention is to "concentrate emergency
assistance mainly on the four most affected regions"
(Pool, Bouenza, Niari and Lekoumou) in the south as
well affected populations in Pointe-Noire and the Plateaux
region, an appeal document stated. The appeal is to
be formally launched by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
in Geneva on 23 November, World Humanitarian Day.

Nairobi, 12 November 1999, 15:00 gmt

[ENDS]

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